Three's a Crowd
by rune101
Summary: Tony's first year of high school seems to be starting off smoothly with his best friend by his side and his crush within his sights, but as hormones rage, everyone will see that finding a love that lasts is no easy task. Tony/Steve/Loki love triangle; AU. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: There will be a tad bit of Tony/Pepper and Steve/Peggy, but it will eventually be Steve/Tony/Loki (not a threesome - a love triangle, with Tony at the heart of it all. There are background pairings but they're just that - in the background, and won't be the main focus/disrupt the cohesion of the fic. Please review. Must I beg...? Because I will...

Disclaimer~ I do not own, nor do I claim to own the characters, settings, or franchises depicted herein; they are all property of the copyright holder(s). I merely own the stories and plots in which I have created.

* * *

Tony sat up straight, actually pretending to pay attention in English. There Pepper was, in all her varsity cheerleader and dance team captain glory. Beautiful. Sexy. Hot. Someone he could definitely see producing attractive little Starks, and she wasn't just a pretty face either. She was quite intelligent. A young woman with plans to go to school for a business degree after high school; a soon-to-be successful businesswoman - her future might have well been written in stone.

She shifted in her seat, her short skirted cheerleading outfit pulling up ever so slightly, but just enough to see ridiculously attractive legs and the crease of her hips.

"What're you lookin' at man?" and then Steve ruined the moment. His best friend - sadly, yes it was true, virginal Rodgers who still believed in the old fashioned ways of courtship (and providing one's jacket as a puddle shield) was his bro. Well, there was Bruce, they were science bros, or at least that's what Tony called their duo. They worked well together concerning science, but they conflicted in all other areas. For one thing, Bruce claimed that Tony's ego doubled around Jupitor and back twelve times. Tony just didn't get where the curly-haired teen got that ludicrous idea from. Him. Egotistical?

He just couldn't see it.

At that moment several other guys, Tony hadn't been the only one staring after all, looked away. Pepper looked around, confused, so she must have not understood the extent of how much her choice of clothing was affecting most of the classroom's male populace.

It was already too late, Tony couldn't afford to chance another glance at Pepper's legs, or her cleavage, on account of her being more aware now. But he _could_ slap Steve, which he did, under his desk. "Idiot," he added for good measure.

Steve rubbed his leg and fiercely whispered, "What'd I do?"

"Everything," Tony countered.

* * *

The bell rang and everyone was leaving. Tony watched Pepper go and had to stop himself from emitting a catcall at the natural sway of her hips. She was driving him crazy and she probably didn't even know it.

"Hey...? Earth to Tony, let's go."

"Huh?" the classroom was empty and the teacher, who was straightening up a stack of papers, looked like he was about to ask if either of them needed something. Tony grabbed his bag and made to walk out, Steve following behind him.

For lunch Tony got pizza and Steve got a ham sandwich, both of them taking a seat next to the gang - Clint, Natasha, Sif, Bruce, Thor, Jane, and Darcy. Well it was the gang minus Loki - whom Thor assured had a place among them, but rarely took advantage of that opportunity, and when he did he sat there wordlessly, looking for all the world as bored as Tony in English (when he was not occupying himself with staring at Pepper that was) and some of Thor's other friends - a redhead with a full mustache and beard, despite only being a sophomore, the school's (actual) resident playboy - Frandral, whom Tony often got into fights with, and that Asian kid that Tony often referred to as...That Asian Kid...yeah, he really didn't know, nor did he make an effort to find out his name.

Clint was saying something in a low voice that couldn't be heard over the cafeteria's loud chatter. "So how's the married couple doing?" Tony asked, gesturing between Natasha and Clint.

"We already told you. We're _not _dating!"

Tony tapped his temple twice and smiled. "We? As in you mean the both of you, together?" he snickered before looking over to Clint and adding a, "I can see who wears the pants in this relationship." Before Natasha could counter him he continued with a smug, "And I'm always right about these kinds of things."

Natasha just groaned loudly for emphasis. "Fine, whatever floats your boat _Stark_."

"Well I'm just helping you two open your eyes to the painfully obvious. And sorry to burst your bubble but the thought of you and archery boy over there just don't do it for me, but I bet you guys could float each other's boats." Tony winked suggestively and elbowed Steve. "Am I right or am I right?"

Steve more or less crumbled from the collective weights of everyone's stares - Tony's gaze asking for confirmation, Clint and Natasha's gazes pleading for declination, and promising nothing good if that wasn't the answer he gave them, and everyone else just looking on curiously. "I - I don't know! It's not my place to-"

Tony put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Whoa, chill, it's not worth having a heart attack over." Steve mumbled something but Thor laughed heartily; three women at his side - Jane, Sif, and Darcy. It was no secret Jane, and Sif, Thor's friend since childhood, both had it bad for him. He only felt sorry that the blond football captain was quite naive and had no idea about it.

Bruce piped up, shook his head, and raised his brows in that disapproving manner of his. "Tony, sheesh, don't pick on the guy," he said, inclining his head toward Steve.

"I wasn't." Tony said simply, as if Bruce had asked the time and he had given it.

Bruce sighed but didn't push it. Natasha on the other hand decided to press further. "Yeah, I don't get where you get off pressuring him into answering such stupid questions."

"Awhh, how sweet," Tony cooed. "Tasha has a thing for Stevey now too." Steve frowned at the name, not because it was a nickname that Tony had given him - it wasn't, but because Tony was mocking him.

Clint looked over at Natasha, as if the whole act were subconscious and muttered a soft yet surprised, "What...? You-"

Natasha turned towards him and her features softened a bit. "Don't listen to him, that's a load of crap."

"Hey, still right here," Tony raised his brows and waved his hand in front of the two. "And sheesh, I'm sorry that the truth hurts so bad, I'll make a mental note that I should lie to the two of you more often then. And what great friends some of you guys are," he glared mostly at Steve but shot Bruce the very same glare, though it was mostly an empty one because they had barely known each other for more than a month - but still, he was his science bro and science bros looked out for one another. "Real friends take each other's side." he scoffed. Having said his peace Tony shoved the last of his pizza in his mouth and guzzled his pint sized carton of chocolate milk before throwing his trash away and getting up.

He half expected Steve to follow, like he always did - to stop him, to catch up, to try and resolve things like always...but that just ended up being wishful thinking as Steve just sat there, gaze held intently downwards on the faux wood foldable lunch table. He was staring at the sandwich in his hands, though he made no move to eat it.

Tony was about to head out to the courtyard but Frandral - public enemy number one in his book, was currently occupying it. And, to top it all off was was wooing (okay, so perhaps he had spent a little too much time with Rodgers) none other than Pepper herself. And Pepper wasn't rejecting him; in fact just the opposite! Whatever he was telling her had her giggling superficially and looking up at him from beneath impossibly long eyelashes. Well either her lashes were long or those were those false lashes he had heard girls chatter about - Tony couldn't tell the difference. But weren't those things itchy? Anyways, he couldn't swallow his pride because he knew the moment he stepped out there that Frandral would flaunt whatever mind control he had over the redhead that had her practically flinging herself at him. Because that's what it was and what it must've been for her to take interest in _him _over Tony; granted, Tony had literally said less than two words to her, but that was beside the point.

And it was much too late into lunch to try and sneak up onto the roof; by now all the teachers had finished dawdling and were at their stations, patrolling all the routes that led to sweet, sweet freedom.

That really only left one place to turn to. The library. The place he had yet to step foot into, and for good reason, because no girl wanted to be with a nerd. Well, not girls like Virginia "Pepper" Potts anyways. So here he was, about to cross into the domain of loser-dome filled with geeky geeks who played cards - Pokèmon, Yu-gi-oh, and other trading types, followed closely by the Dungeons and Dragons types and interspersed with the bookworms, people who were overly serious about their GPA, the procrastinators who were most likely furiously typing out a paper that would be due the following period, the kids who just hung out with their friends in the library like it was the place to be, the chronic texters whom the librarian constantly tried to catch in the act, the Japanese comic fanatics, the sleepers, and...Loki?

The library was actually quite crowded save for a roundtable where only Loki had sat. Others seemed to keep their distance, not so much in fear as out of circumstance - the table Loki was sat at was near the shelf marked "mystery novels" and all of them looked dusty, like they hadn't been checked out or opened in ages; the table was also out of the way of the computers, so no one had ask him to scoot in to get to one. It was out the way, period.

Tony contemplated looking busy for however long he had left of lunch, but the clock told him that there was still a whopping nineteen minutes, and he'd be damned if he stood there pretending to look for a certain book that didn't exist just because he didn't really want to sit next to Thor's awkward brother.

Tony decided to suck it up, he'd done worse - well not really, this was his first year in high school, yes, he was a lowly freshman, but there were already plenty of rumors about how he was a playboy, and he hadn't countered that no, he hadn't exactly slept with anyone yet; he hadn't even kissed anyone other than his own mother. But he didn't inform anyone otherwise because he liked how badass his reputation made him feel, even if it was without merit and even if that stupid idiot Frandral was the only actual playboy - it wouldn't stay like that, that he would make sure of.

When he sat down he stared plainly at Loki. He didn't have a book on him (and didn't want to grab one from the conveniently close shelf) and he had already finished all of his homework assignments during the alotted discussion time of class (when he was supposed to be participating in his group) that his teacher had given. He really didn't care about the nation's current state of politics, and even if he did, it wasn't like he was even old enough to vote anyways, so he considered it time well spent to do his homework, even if his teacher had caught him at the end when he had just finished and told him to put it away, lecturing him about the importance of being up-to-date on...well, something important he surmised; he didn't know because he had tuned out the rest.

Loki's eyes flicked up when he heard someone else take a seat at the otherwise deserted roundtable. Who he wasn't expecting to see was Tony, the dark eyed intelligent who was absolutely full of himself. He was one of Thor's friends and Loki hated most of Thor's friends, so he would be no different; it was a running trend that had yet to be disproven, really. Shrugging it off as mere coincidence, Loki attempted to go back to reading but he still felt Stark's gaze on him. He looked up and locked eyes with Tony who had been staring at him rather intensely with furtive glances.

"Uh, hey," Tony gave a nervous chuckle that shook and wavered before flashing a crooked smile that hardly seemed sincere.

Loki looked up from the thick textbook he was reading once more and held Tony's gaze for a about a second or two before saying a low, "Hi." It wasn't meek, but it was neither loud nor friendly - quite the opposite, really; it sounded disinterested.

"Okay then..." Tony trailed off, unused to being brushed off. Everyone usually listened to him. But he guessed he shouldn't have expected the same of Loki. The boy clearly had no social skills. And it must've been contagious because his mouth had lost its motor. At that exact moment the bell rang and Loki began gathering his things.

"Well, it's been a pleasure, Stark, but I must be getting to class." Oddly enough there was no hint of sarcasm in his voice which threw Tony for a loop and he scrunched up his face in confusion.

"Huh?" he didn't get what was going on. Loki just smirked and walked through the library's book detectors (which would go off in an annoying beep if anyone had wandered through with an unchecked out book) and effortlessly blended into the crowd of fellow high school students. Tony got up and adjusted his one strap backpack over his shoulder - he was really regretting not following his dad's caution that a singular strap might be uncomfortable, despite however fashion-friendly it may have appeared to be, and exited as well.

The hall leading out of the library was pretty much barren save for a few teachers who were languidly talking and a few scurrying students here and there. It wasn't like the bell had rung eons ago, in fact it had only been three and a half minutes and the transition time was ten. But ten minutes seemed to fly by trying to get around this campus - it was bigger, and had a larger student body than most private colleges, but that was a comparison of course, it was only a high school and a public one at that; because it was so big it had always had a lot of students but never as many as now, what with the economy being so bad and several other schools having to close because of lack of funding. And where did a great mass of those students end up? Here. Avengers High School, home of the Superheroes; that was their mascot. If you asked Tony though he'd say that it was all stupid and oh-so uncool. He liked superheroes. Back in elementary school.

Tony spotted Steve but Steve seemed to spot him as well and started to walk faster. Tony was determined to catch up with him because they had their next class together and he was feeling lonely already. He usually said some pretty off things but Steve had never reacted like that before. 'What a pansy,' he thought, then scoffed out loud but immediately felt guilty afterwards. And that was weird too. Tony Stark rarely felt guilty; it just wasn't in his nature. He didn't do things and then feel guilty afterwards, not until in his teenaged life, anyway.

The analog clock hung high up on the wall alerted Tony that he'd been dawdling for far too long - class started in three minutes, so he picked up the pace and avoided walking near Steve as they both made their way into class.

It was mandatory freshman science, even though Tony's knowledge of the subject far surpassed what the teacher would probably be teaching him, but at least before him and Steve had always sat next to each other and chosen to be partners. Now though, Steve was being all standoffish and took the seat next to Peggy Carter, vintage beauty queen - a girl right out of a fourties Hollywood glamour magazine to be sure.

Tony glared at the aforementioned girl's pin curls, which fell into a sultry wave around her face. It just wasn't fair. Now who was going to be _his _partner? Hopefully there was no lab today. Hopefully there was only notes. Notes he could do.

The bell rang and a man with light-ish brown hair took a sip from his cup of Starbucks coffee before putting it down on the rather large desk at the front of the room. "Hey guys," he said a little too chipperly. "I know you were all probably expecting your regular science teacher. But, well as most of you may already know, she's on maternity leave and I'm here to take her place for the time being. I'm endorsed in science but I'm not all too good at it," there was a round of chuckling and Tony sighed, coupled with a roll of his eyes. Oh great. A comedian.

The man continued, "So we won't be doing too many labs, not complicated ones at least." the man gathered a few papers and pointed to the handwriting that was even worse than Tony's own - it literally looked like something akin to chicken scratch - on the board. "My name is Mr. Coulson by the way, but you can call me Mr. C if you feel like you're going to forget."

A few girls whispered conspiratorily behind Tony and he caught bits of what they were saying. "...I heard...sleeping...Fury," followed by noises of surprise and exaggerated giggles. Tony sighed, clicking his pen: in and out, in and out.

"I'm just going to go by the lesson plan that your teacher left for today, so please get into partners of two, preferably someone sitting close to or near to you." Tony groaned at that. Steve looked up at him hesitantly. It had only been their third week of high school but even before then, in the years of middle school and even their lowly days of elementary when baking soda-vinegar volcanoes made their eyes widen with glee, they had partnered up whenever possible - especially if they had class together. But then Peggy latched onto his arm and turned him towards herself with a soft and decievingly innocent, "Will you be my partner?" and Steve being Steve nodded without complaint or rejection. This made Tony sigh even louder. What a push-over.

Coulson scanned the room and found one boy, with dark hair and prominent brown eyes sitting at a table alone. He counted and recounted but everyone was already paired up in twos. He motioned to the boy to come to the front of the room so he could possibly find a group to put him in as the third member but the freshman in question didn't make a move to get up, in fact he seemed to pretty much be in La-la Land. And there was no seating chart to rely on, so walked over to the boy and tapped the table - quite effectively startling him out of his reverie.

Tony looked up. "Huh?" followed by a, "what...?"

"You need to find a group," Coulson stated simply. "We're all waiting on you." at that a few students turned their heads and a stray senior, who had failed this basic class freshman year and already knew what to expect, sighed out of boredom or exasperation, Tony couldn't tell.

"Oh. Right." Tony looked around the room and inquisitive eyes latched onto his form.

"Why don't you join our group?" Peggy said, standing up and motioning over to the table where she and Steve were sat. Steve made a noise of protest that half died in his throat before averting his eyes.

At that exact moment the solidly weighted door creaked open and Bruce slid in before the heavy door closed once more. He stood there, awkwardly, a few paces in front of the door he had just entered and looked on with a meekness that was common of him; he wasn't shy but he wasn't unnecessarily loud either.

He waved the stark white piece of paper in front of Coulson as he approached him; it was his class schedule. "I got a schedule change a little bit ago, so this is the class I'm in," he stated, pointing to the class on his schedule as confimation.

Coulson nodded. "Sounds good. Can I get your name? I'll just need to add you into the attendence sheet. Hopefully they'll have you in the system for this class by next class so it'll be easier to take attendence."

"It's Bruce. Bruce Banner," the curly haired teen answered politely.

"Great, well Bruce can I get you to join that group over there?" he pointed towards Steve, Peggy, and Tony. The groups among the classroom had been divided up into twos but Coulson figured a group of four was merely two groups of two - and where was the harm in that?

Bruce nodded and sat down awkwardly in the chair next to Tony, his chair squeaking as he accidentally drug it across the linolium floor when he sat down on it, his eyes carefully examining the details of the floor - the scuff marks and the white and green flooring, because he could feel the uncomfortable weight of too many curious (and curiously bored) gazes on him.

"Aye Banner, nice to see 'ya around these parts," Tony drawled in a lame attempt at an accent.

Bruce just shrugged. "Guess so. I just really wanted to take chemistry and this was the only period I could switch my freshman science class to to get it still."

"Chemistry?" Tony exclaimed, "Wait, I thought you have to be at least a sophomore or junior to take that."

"Everything has an exception. I just had to take an aptitude test to make sure I have enough background knowledge."

Tony snorted. "Over-achiever."

Bruce smirked. "Under-achiever."

"Touché my friend, touché." Tony said with a sigh. It was true after all. For all his academic prowess, and all his dad's griping, he was in all the 'regular' non-advanced classes. It just didn't mean much to him - grades that is. Worrying about grades and future scholarships was more of Bruce's thing.

He cared. Bruce that was. Cared about straight A's and high accomplishments - about community service and having a transcript that'd allow him to go any college of his choosing.

But they were only freshman and newly dubbed ones as well. Tony only cared about making his "reputation" a reality - that someday he'd be able to count playboy among his accomplishments, true accomplishments; not the ones he was given by circumstance: like being heir to billions. No. He wanted something for himself, something to do for himself and on his own. Even if that was merely building up a reputation for being a playboy.

At least it was nothing like his father. Well, maybe that wasn't true; his father did have a womanizing reputation himself before he settled down. Regardless he was tired of being referred to as "Howard's son." Why couldn't he be Tony? Just plain old Tony. His own man. Not the shadow of excellence everyone expected of him - not a carbon copy of his father's ingenuitive drive and success. He hated doing things that were expected of him. He was just the opposite actually. He found not playing by the rules worked best for him. Usually.

"'Kay, guys, I'm gonna' pass a paper around, one per group, and you guys just need to read the lab and go through it. Just show a little initiative - you guys aren't in middle school anymore, it only gets harder from here. Just wait till college."

"Well, welcome to high school," Tony muttered more to himself than anyone else. Yep. High school. Land of The Drama. At least it probably wouldn't be as bad as middle school. That was the real animal kingdom. Where everyone was trying to grab an identity too early. Thank God it was over.

* * *

The lab explained on the paper was quite simple. It was a pH measuring lab and all they had to do was dip the pH paper into the multiple substances and detemine from the the color change what the pH was and if the substance was an acid, neutral, or a base. Simple enough.

Before they could get started though Coulson came over to them. "Just for simplicity's sake, could you four break up into two?" he handed a worksheet to Steve to share with Peggy and one for Bruce to share with Tony.

They broke off into their respective groups but Bruce practically flinched at the eyes he felt burning into the back of his neck. Steve wasn't intentionally staring at him, but he was standing in the way of the view of Tony so that's just how it ended up.

"Hey, uh, could we move? Somewhere more spacious?" Bruce added as an after thought; well, an excuse really.

But Tony wasn't paying attention. He was looking at his teacher, Coulson, watching as the man stared down into his lap after looking around like a guilty chronic texter; that made him smirk - a teacher, of all things, texting in class. And then he watched the shift in Mr. C's expression, he was smiling as he read whatever text he had just recieved.

"Hey - Earth to Tony, come in Tony," Bruce said exasperatedly. Everyone was already starting their labs. They were just standing there, save for Steve who was attempting to balance both looking in Tony's general direction and pouring the right amount of milk into the beaker.

"Hm?" Tony didn't look away though and then a teacher, he assumed, dressed rather suavely in a suit with dark skin, an eyepatch, and a rather authoritive aura about him quietly slipped into the room, going straight to the desk Coulson was sat at. They were quietly conversing, but it didn't seem business or work related. Mr. C was smiling in a way made Tony look away, he felt like he was intruding on something by just watching. Like this was an intimate moment, not meant for his or anyone elses' eyes.

"Tony," Bruce uncharacteristically whined.

"Okay, okay," Tony replied, making a shooing motion with his hand and pouring all the substances into all the beakers all willy-nilly.

"Wait - Tony, we're only supposed to pour six milliliters into the-"

"It doesn't matter either way. We're just dipping pH paper into it, right?" Tony interrupted. "So it shouldn't matter."

Bruce sighed. He just couldn't cut a break with Tony. He was intelligent, that was for sure, but he was stubborn as all hell. And that stubbornness usually transferred into everything he did, or didn't do. He shook his head. He knew one day Tony would find out the hard way that there wasn't always an easy way out.

After they had finished the lab and all the materials had been cleaned up, most of the students got their stuff and crowded around the door like livestock. When the bell rang, Tony felt his backpack dip and Steve's hand hung from it when he looked back.

"Hey," Steve said sheepishly, dropping his hand.

"Hey. C'mon, walk with me." Tony had no intention of going to health next period. He was going home. Or maybe he could get Steve to skip with him; well, whatever didn't work out he'd go with the other.

"Huh? Where're you going?"

"Well I'm gonna skip, you coming?" Tony said in a low tone as they passed an open classroom.

"Uhm..." Steve thought about it, "I don't think I should."

"Well I wasn't expecting you to," Tony retorted without a hint of surprise. Goody-two shoes Steve Rodgers would never agree to skip school, not even if his house were on fire. Okay. _Maybe _if his house was on fire.

"Well I'll see you around, okay?"

Tony smiled. "Sounds good to me. Call me after you get out of school. Or something like that." he added so he didn't sound like he was anticipating it.

"Kay." and with that said Steve departed to his P.E. class with a wave goodbye.

Tony set off to do what many seniors had perfected to an art form; sucessfully ditching class without getting caught. There were a few hitches, one was wandering teachers who were destination bound, but also bound to be curious where one was going. The other were the security guards who had the thwarting of many school skippers under their belts. They weren't guards in the sense of the word like ones you'd expect to see on a fancy private high school campus. They just kept the peace, enforcing the school's dress code when girls' skirts or shorts got too mini or when guys' pants might as well have been around their ankles. They also dispersed fights that had broken out on school grounds, sometimes, though only in severe cases, having to call the police, and making sure no suspicious persons entered the campus.

But Tony's belt had a purpose - holding up his pants, they weren't for decoration, and he hadn't got into any physical fights, though Frandral was looking like an appealing first candidate to change that. No, it was their (the security guards') other two jobs that most affected him. Reeling in skippers and making sure no one tried to bail out on school assemblies.

Unfortunately the security man was sat in what looked a little like a golf cart, positioned at the junction between the only three ways off campus from the northern part of campus. Walking to the southern part of the campus would take too long and draw too much attention, not to mention there were likely to be two security guards down there as opposed to one. He could go through the back of the locker rooms but he'd be screwed if his gym teacher, who just so happened to be teaching P.E. that period saw him. The only other way was out through the mid-campus, past the tennis court. None of the security guards ever stood ground there and it was almost always deserted. Only problem with that was that exit didn't lead to where he needed to be to get to his house. It lead to the opposite direction, and though the route still ran through it was a long-cut (the polar opposite of a short-cut) if ever there was one.

Tony sighed and turned around, only to walk smack right into Loki. Fortunately the taller boy didn't drop any of his things. "Ow, watch where you're going you imbecile."

"Watch where you're going you imbecile," Tony parroted in a mocking fashion. "See? I can use big words too. And they're your own."

Loki frowned. "Shut up."

"Make me." Tony retorted automatically.

"You'll wish you never-"

"Excuse me," a professional yet cocky voice sounded. Whomever it was, it was certainly either one of the front office workers or someone with an administrative position, "where are you two supposed to be?"

"Uh..." Tony drew out.

"Class," Loki supplied.

"Well I suggest you two get there now. You're already late." she arched her eyebrow at them, and walked away, her heels clicking on the dull floors that would remain in that state until come Friday evening and Saturday morning when the groundskeeper-janitor (which was one under-payed man for both jobs) would make his rounds.

After the woman had walked away, Tony turned to frown at the pale blue-green eyed teen beside him. "To class?" he repeated, increasing his frown. "My god man, couldn't you have thought of something more - y'know, creative? Less damning..."

Loki rolled his eyes. "It wasn't damning, and what would you have me say? We were headed to the nurses office together like a couple of prepubescent schoolboys? Or better yet, you had to go potty and I accompanied you?"

Tony ignored both comments, especially that last one. He wore his big-boy pants with pride and he wouldn't admit to how many times he had asked Steve to be his bathroom buddy; if that got out Pepper would never look at him for sure - he would be deemed uncool and childish. "Yeah well, how we gonna' slip past security? They're out there like a couple of watch dogs."

"Oh please, they are not nearly intelligent enough to qualify as even that. I assure you their minds are probably inferior to even the dullest canine. And what is this 'we' business? I don't recall ever saying I'd help you. Had you been paying attention, we wouldn't have collided, and then inevitably, that administrator would not have had the chance to stop either of us."

"So it was an administrator," Tony confirmed, shaking his head as if he had just confirmed some great truth. "I knew it."

"Are you even paying attention?" Loki huffed.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Well I'm just gonna head to class then. See 'ya later Loks, and next time, feel free to sit with us at lunch. You don't have to be a loner y'know."

Loki frowned, he didn't know if it was at the foul misuse of his name or the implication that Loki was a 'loner' rather than simply studious - ignoring the uncouth, ignorant, uneducated masses by avoiding their gathering place, namely the cafeteria. He settled on a "What ever," a distinct separation of the two words by means of pausing, and glared at Tony who walked away, dumb smile sat complacently on his face.

There was a long pause as Loki reconsidered. "Wait! Uhm, what class exactly are you headed to?"

"Uh, health." Tony said more like a question.

"Oh, uh, okay. Me too..."

"Oh really? Great, we can walk together then." Tony really wasn't feeling as confident as he sounded. Maybe Loki would be the low blow to his reputation that would prevent Pepper from ever noticing him. Maybe Steve would be too embarrassed to call him his best friend now that he knew he associated with Loki of all people. Maybe Bruce...wait. Nah, Bruce probably wouldn't care, social things rarely interested him, and Thor would probably love him for it, but Natasha and Clint would likely give him hell. But on the positive side Pepper was a cheerleader and Thor was a football player; they were in close association as far as their pass times went. So Thor could always her up with him, Tony reasoned, and what better excuse to be owed that exchange than if he did the favor of hanging out with Loki.

It was brilliant.

"Okay." Loki said simply. It was the first time anyone, aside from Thor, had offered to walk to class together, and maybe this was a chance at friendship. His mom, Frigga, had been telling him that books, for all their knowledge, did not make for great friends and it was true. Sometimes more than others, Loki found himself jealous of Thor and his many friends, associates, colleagues, and contacts. Loki didn't have any of those. Maybe "friends" who pretended to like him so they could cheat off his tests, copy his homework and class assignments, and borrow his notes. But they rarely hung out with him for anything aside from that - maybe at most they gave him a nod of acknowledgement in the halls or a noncommital greeting.

When they walked into class, the teacher held the attendance clipboard and was already at the bottom of it from her tone. "You two are late," she pointed out matter-of-factly. "Oh, Tony, what's the excuse today?"

Loki looked over at Tony.

"Stomach ache." Tony recited, not putting too much effort into making it believable; three weeks and he swore he already had a reputation with the teachers; and not the good kind either. He resigned himself to the detention slip he'd inevitably receive come first thing sometime tomorrow.

"Then go to the nurse's office." the woman countered

"I feel fine now."

"I'm sure you do." A few traitorous classmates giggled at Tony's fate. "Loki please take a seat. Especially you Tony." The teacher, Ms. Hill didn't even bring up Loki's tardiness.

The unfortunate part of being late was that the only two seats left were at the back, two desks that had seen better days and read out names with hearts and pluses and so-and-so was heres. Loki dared not put his hand under the desk but Tony must have found out the hard way when he retracted his hand with a disgusted look, wiping his palm and fingers off on the side of his pants.

Class started without a hitch after that and to Tony's absolute boredom, the unit they were starting was on nutrition. Tony felt he already knew the ins and outs of eating a proper meal - when he chose to, of course.

His eyes drifted closed, the scene of the classroom fading in and out. When he looked over, the last thing he saw was Loki - staring at him - quite intently.

* * *

"Would someone mind waking up Mr. Stark? I have a class to teach and sleeping is not an option." The kid sitting across from Tony gave him a good jab and the aforementioned teen startled awake.

"Huh? What?" he asked in quick succession, blinking a few times.

The teacher grit her teeth and stilled her tongue, taking a deep breath and continuing on with the lesson. "I want you all to get in pairs of two, and then I'll tell you what to do next."

What was with teachers and their twos? Tony was always more of a threesome kind of guy.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony's dad had texted after school saying that he was sitting in a board meeting that was surely going to go over and that he wouldn't be able to pick him up from school.

Tony was given the option of a chauffeur but didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. He had already made his stance as Tony Stark. Not privileged Howard Stark's son. But as the funny guy who was definitely a playboy. He didn't want to ruin that now.

So instead he boarded the public bus and rode to the end of the line, got off and walked a few blocks to his house; his dad's second baby, what he had dubbed, Stark Towers.

He went through all the security measures, checked in and took the elevator to the upper floors. Once there he kicked off his shoes before quickly picking them back up in hopes that his mom hadn't seen the motion, or wasn't home yet, and proceeded to his bedroom.

Tony threw his shoes in the pile in the corner behind the door and let his backpack slide from his shoulder with a loud echo. Next he took off his pants, opting for his breezy shorts and brought his laptop over to his bed. Sure, he had homework to do, but homework could wait - especially when his teachers had made the mistake of giving him such lenient due dates.

"Do you require anything, sir?" JARVIS, Tony's AI asked. Tony grinned from end to end. JARVIS was still improving everyday, but he was _his_ creation. The feeling couldn't be put into words.

Turning on his laptop Tony logged into SHIELD Network, or SN for short. It was a social networking site basically (the acronym was _uncannily _ correct), but everyone who was anyone at least knew of it. Even Tony's own parents had accounts.

(You: Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS), have posted:

"Man, skool blows." posted at 4:00 pm EST)

Natasha Romanoff said: "Not as badly as your grammar does. Lol." posted at 4:00 pm

Clint Barton replied: "This isn't English class 'Tash." posted at 4:01 pm

Natasha Romanoff replied: "Can it Barton." posted at 4:01 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Ooh, trouble in paradise?" posted at 4:02 pm

Natasha Romanoff replied: "You too Stark." posted at 4:02 pm

Frandral Dashing (gets all the ladies) said: "Your day sucked because you're just jealous that I hit it and you can't get it Tony ;)" posted at 4:03 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Yeah right. You just tend to go for my sloppy seconds. ;)" posted at 4:05 pm

Frandral Dashing (gets all the ladies) replied: "I do not!" posted at 4:08 pm {User is now offline}

Thor Odinson said: "Tony it cannot be as bad as you speak of. :)" posted at 4:10 pm

Jane Foster replied: "I agree!" posted at 4:11 pm

Sif Sylvan replied: "Couldn't have said it better myself, Thor." posted at 4:12 pm

Darcy Lewis replied: "...Can either of you be any more transparent? Sheesh..." posted at 4:15 pm

Thor Odinson replied: "They're ghosts?!" posted at 4:17 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Idiot..." posted at 4:21 pm {User is now offline}

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) said: "Hey, amigos, don't throw a party at my pad and not invite me..." posted at 4:23 pm

Natasha Romanoff replied: "Oh no, the attention shifted away from you. The world is surely gonna end now." posted at 4:24 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "You're only mean to me 'cause you like me. ;) I know how the playground works." posted at 4:26 pm

Natasha Romanoff replied: "Apparently not..." posted at 4:27 pm {User is now offline}

Bruce Banner said: "Hey Tony, did you finish your half of the lab write up yet?" posted at 4:30 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Man, don't sweat it. It's not due until Wednesday." posted at 4:33 pm

Bruce Banner replied: "You have a running streak of procrastination that has of yet to be broken." posted at 4:34 pm

Tony Stark (ROCK YOUR SOCKS) replied: "I see how much you believe in me. Man, that hurts. Hurts real bad." posted at 4:37 pm

Bruce Banner replied: "Just get it done." posted at 4:38 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Harsh words. They say it's called tough love though ;)" posted at 4:38 pm

Howard Stark (Married Genius) said: "You should listen to him, Anthony. Your mom sent me to tell you to do your homework anyways. Also, wear a condom. I'm not ready to be a grandfather yet." posted at 4:42 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Dad...I will, now get off my SHIELD and stop embarrassing me!" posted at 4:43 pm

Howard Stark (Married Genius) replied: You will wear a condom or you will do your homework?" posted at 4:45 pm

Tony Stark (ROCK YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Dad...!" posted at 4:47 pm

Howard Stark (Married Genius) replied: I was just kidding. Help your old man out here though. If you don't do what she wants, it won't mean good for either of us." posted at 4:45 pm {User is now offline}

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Fine..." posted at 4:45 pm {User is now offline}

Tony sat back from his laptop, stretching and blinking a few times extra to make up for his lack of doing so while staring so intently at the screen. His dad was always embarrassing in front of his friends though, both online and offline in person. He hoped to God that he wouldn't be just like him when he grew up.

So that homework...Tony took it out of his backpack and stared through it a few moments before grabbing a pen and reading it. 'You and your partner are to write up the results of your experiment using the scientific method. It can be either written or typed' it read. Tony hated the scientific method; it was so formulaic and restricting; do this, not that, and so on.

Tony wrote out his hypothesis, theorizing that milk would be a base, the lemon juice would be an acid, the baking soda would be a base, and that the water would be a neutral. He stopped there, skipping down to write out the procedure and list of materials. After that he drew out the table, wrote in the pHs that Bruce had, thankfully, provided him with and quickly filled in the conclusion.

"Done!" he declared aloud.

"Tony, are you doing your homework?" his mom yelled from downstairs.

"Yeah Mom, I finished it!" he yelled back and waited.

"Come down here then!" Damn. Tony had been hoping that his mom wouldn't try to orchestrate another family dinner. Couldn't she see that those types of things were for plain and _ordinary _ people? People not like the Starks.

Tony withheld a cough as he descended the stairs. Smoke was wafting over in plumes from the kitchen. 'Great. Mom burnt dinner again,' Tony thought with a sigh. His dad was at the table and the plates were set out looking just as fancy and expensive as they were. It was what was _on_ the plates that made horror music play in Tony's head.

Half burned macaroni and cheese with a side of blue cheese, cottage cheese, and nearly blackened garlic butter toast. There looked to be cut up sausage mixed in it too. Well, Tony had seen worse. Much, much worse. The older Stark was sipping slowly at his white wine. Tony mimicked him, picking up his glass of sparkling apple cider and savoring every drop.

"_Well_? Aren't you two boys gonna eat?" his mom asked, hovering over them in a frilly pink and white apron. "I spent all evening cooking this meal."

"Sure tastes like it has been in the oven all eveni-" Tony kicked his dad in the shin under the table, "ow! I mean it looks delicious honey."

"Then what are you two waiting for? I bet you're both starved."

"Starved for something edible-" Tony started in a low voice and Howard kicked him especially hard in the shin as payback, "Fuuuh- I agree. This looks great. Just wish there was a side dish or something to go with it."

"Yeah, like your famous homemade mashed potatoes, but I'd hate for you to go to all the trouble." Howard turned his pleading eyes on his wife and she relented. Yeah, those homemade mashed potatoes were famous alright. Famous for acquainting whoever ate it with the porcelain throne.

"It won't be any trouble at all, I'll be back with it soon!" she was practically bouncing at the request.

"Those cooking lessons aren't doing anything," Tony groaned. "We need our personal chef back."

"Agreed. But I can't tell her. You do it."

"Dad...you're married to her." Tony complained.

"And she's your mom," his dad followed up.

Tony presented a plastic bag that he had brought, just in case, and they scraped their plates into it. "Take out Chinese?"

"Take out Chinese," his dad confirmed and they stuck to the wall, sliding across it like amateur undercover agents. They tip-toed to the stairs and ran down them - every single one of them - to get to the bottom floor.

When they were out and bypassed a public garbage Tony threw away the bag and the proceeded to their place, Shwarma. It was an everything eatery - Chinese, burgers, steak - everything and anything.

Tony's cell phone started ringing as soon as his dad started ordering and he picked it up, not bothering to see who it was. It was just probably Bruce, nagging him about that assignment.

"Hello?"

'H-hey,' it was Steve.

Tony was quiet a few moments before starting, "Hey, what's up?"

'I'm sorry about today, all of it,' Steve confessed hurriedly. 'I didn't mean to-'

"Whoa, it's okay," Tony cut him off. "I'm not mad." it was a lie, he _h__ad _been mad, earlier, not now though. His anger usually came in short but volatile bursts; he was all out mad for a stint, then it was gone and he was fine, and really, forgive and forget and all that, right?

'It's my dad,' Steve went on to say. Tony paused in knowing.

"Hey, I'll be right over, okay?"

'You don't have to-'

"You're at home right?" Tony asked, disregarding his attempt at lightening the situation.

'Yeah...'

"Okay, you sit tight, I'm on my way." By now Tony's dad was giving him a hard look, confusion written plainly on his features.

"Anthony, what's going on?" his dad asked, paying the cashier and taking his bags of food.

"It's Steve, I - I just really gotta go." Tony said quickly.

"Hey, let me give you a ride at least." his dad offered without giving any room to decline.

"O-okay..." Tony relented and put the phone back up to his ear. "My dad's gonna drop me off, wait for me, okay?"

He ended up at Steve's house, barely avoiding glaring at Bucky, Steve's longest friend, even longer than Tony had been. It wasn't that there was any true animosity between the two, but Tony hated competition for what was rightfully his. He had stuck by Steve's side this long, and no one, not even Bucky, was going to steal his position as the all American good boy's best friend.

Steve was sitting at the kitchen table, face in his hands, and Bucky was patting his back.

"When did you get back?" Tony asked jealously. Bucky, whose name was actually James, sighed. He had been out of town since he moved and his first day back in four months had ended up like this: consoling his best friend rather than sharing experiences and exchanging stories and fending off Tony's obvious glares.

"This morning, actually," he drawled. "My folks came up here with me because my dad has a meeting." he wanted to say more, not to the Stark, but to Steve about how after senior year - coming up soon, he was already a junior - he was going to enlist for active duty, but before that he would move to Manhattan permanently so they wouldn't have to go through long commutes or settle for just talking over the phone texting, or SHIELD Networking. But he knew he couldn't say anything to do with the military. Not now at least.

"So how's your dad?" Tony asked. He knew that his dad had been deployed in a hot zone and every road bomb and air raid broadcasted in the news set him off. His mom could be heard from down the hallway, sobbing in the bathroom. The atmosphere was thick and heavy as it was.

"We haven't heard back. His unit is missing." Steve said in a low, faraway voice. His tone was calm and separated from the situation.

"Well at least they haven't confirmed he's dead." Tony said trying to lighten the mood. It was a hard task. Though 'hard' was an understatement.

Bucky glared at him. "Now why would you go and say a thing like that, huh?"

"Because it's true, and don't go acting all condescending. They haven't confirmed any deaths, he could be off the radar for all we know. It's better to think that than to sit around mourning the man like he's already dead."

"You inconsiderate little-"

"Just _stop_ it. The both of you. I'd really appreciate it..." Steve said.

"Next year I'm moving here," Bucky muttered out of nowhere after the long uncomfortable silence that had followed. Tony had been about to break said silence as it wasn't for him. He hated awkward silences, hated silence period. Why be quiet when you could be doing something, saying something? Even if it was just lashing out.

"...Really?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Bucky smiled, "really, really." Steve smiled, albeit a little forced and asked him what he'd been up to in those four months. Tony stood up to leave - reunions that didn't include him weren't really his thing either, and he didn't want to sit here twiddling his thumbs and staring off into space while the two recounted their lives so far and reminisced. The pleading look Steve shot him to stay made him sit back down however, but after half an hour of it there was only so much he could take. So Tony texted his dad to pick him up (he did so from under the table) and waited.

Steve's mom came out with red eyes and apologized for not having a pie or cake to offer like usual and Tony and Bucky told her it was okay. He knew the situation wasn't funny, at least not in this particular context, but it was so uncanny how Steve's whole world seemed to be trapped in the fourties: his dad was serving in the military as the family's bread-maker, his mom was a stay at home wife, cook, and all around housekeeper, Steve was brought up with outdated manners that in this time were nearly dead, and even their house looked vintage - like it had been pulled out of an old home catalogue.

The sound of his dad's Porsche's sleek engine starting and a few honks alerted Tony that his dad was there. And then his phone vibrated with a text.

[I've been out here this whole time. Better hurry up, food's almost gone and your mom is killing me with all these messages.] Tony nodded, though he knew his dad couldn't see it.

"Hey, hate to interrupt this touching, heartfelt moment but I've gotta go. My dad's waiting out front for me." Tony looked to Steve. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"

Steve wished him well, and his mom did the same. Bucky just stared at him for a few moments and waited until he was halfway out of the door to grumble out a begrudging "bye" that ended up sounding more like 'good riddance.'

When Tony got in the car there was one bag with two boxes of takeout in it and the others were empty, save for the even emptier boxes of what had once been fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, and teriyaki. The drive home was short, mostly because they didn't live too far away from each other, and also because his dad was speeding and making U-turns on every light he missed. Boy he couldn't wait until he turned sixteen and started learning how to drive. He'd be sure to ask his dad, not his mom - who drove slower than the elderly in already slow zones, and that didn't even count how slow she went when she'd seen a cop or police car. They had actually been pulled over for driving too _slow_ before.

When they got home Tony's mom asked what had happened. "I came back and both my boys were gone," she chuckled. "I asked your dad and he didn't know what was what."

"Oh, Steve's just worried about his father," Tony started, rummaging through the cupboards for his Spaceberries, which were freeze dried blueberries. Hey, if they were good enough for astronauts... "Said they got a call from a higher-up telling them that they couldn't identify the whereabouts of his dad's unit at this time but that they'd keep them as updated as they could."

"How accommodating," his mom said sarcastically. "I just hope he's alright, for Steven's sake as well as his mother's. I know this must be hard on the both of them. It's good that you are there for him."

"Yeah, well as 'there for him' as I can be. Bucky was there taking my job. Hey, Mom, where are my blueberries?" Tony said, suddenly shifting the topic.

"You didn't get into with him again, did you? Because this was definitely not the right time. Oh those Spaceberries? I threw those out, they have been sitting in the cabinet for months."

"_Mom_," Tony whined, "they have a shelf life of ten _years_. And no, I didn't start anything."

"Oh, whoops, I thought they'd gone bad. I didn't look at the date."

Tony shook his head. Why throw something out without looking at the expiration date? They still had years left of vacuum sealed blueberry goodness. And now, when he craved them most they were not there. "They don't sell them in stores you know," he hinted.

"I'll order some more online." his mom bargained.

"Damn straight."

"Don't make me change my mind Anthony Edward Stark."

"I was just kidding."

"That's what I thought you said." Sheesh, moms could be scary. Tony grabbed his food and smuggled it into his room with a bottled water. He would have preferred juice or a soda but his mom was in a dieting phase again so all the appetizing things in the house had met a swift end with the trash. The drinks were replaced with sparkling water and tea. There were all kinds in there too - some bottled, some canned, oolong, berry, orange, green, and peppermint, but tea had never exactly suit Tony's fancy. Too bitter for his tastes.

As he sat in his room he grew bored and flipped his TV on, flipping past the science channel (he resisted going back to it), and to some cartoons. He wanted to watch something mindless. And then he logged onto SHIELD Network, it was starting to become an addiction, it really was, and checked to see who was on.

Tony couldn't believe that in his friends list was Frandral, but hey, keep your enemies close, right? Natasha was offline, Sif was offline, Steve was offline (though that came as no surprise, he hardly logged in on a normal day), and Bruce was also offline. Clint was on, but Tony hadn't really come up with something to say to the guy much outside of teasing him about being involved with their resident curly redheaded badass, Thor was on but he was talking to Jane (and he didn't want to feel the wrath of her jealousy at having someone come between them), Darcy was on but Tony didn't know her all too well aside from the fact that they shared the same brand of humor.

[New Suggestion] a message popped up. Tony clicked on it and it redirected him to his friends list with an option to add someone. It said that Loki Odinson had commented on page, which he already knew, he had seen (and chuckled at) the brief stab at Thor's intelligence. Man was the site ever slow if it was just now sending him this suggestion. Beside Loki's name it said 'user online'.

Tony thought about it for a moment, a literal moment, and then clicked SHIELD request. There was no harm he could see in doing so, besides, who else would he talk to? He could always go and post more random meme crap on Bruce's wall, because he never bothered to take it down, but that just seemed pointless because the _point_ was for him to get mad. Tony had seen nearly every one of his friends pissed, lose their cool, but Bruce had soldiered though his every button pushing session. It was uncanny, really. But his calm façade had to end somewhere; there was a line somewhere at the end of the race and he was going to cross it. And hope it didn't kill him in the process.

[Request accepted] Halfway through posting a shirtless self picture on Bruce's page and adding the tagline: 'Dont'cha wish your BF was as Stark as me?' Tony got a notification that said Loki had accepted his request. Cool. Now what?

Tony continued bombarding Bruce's page for another good fifteen minutes until he realized that Loki wasn't going to message him first. So he took the initiative.

(You: Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) have messaged Loki Odinson (is a trickster): "So what are you up to? Conducting mad scientific experiments without me or mastering Latin?" posted at 9:00 pm EST

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) said: "Both of them, I am quite busy Tony." posted at 9:01 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Wait are you serious or joking?" posted at 9:03 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Joking...?" posted at 9:03 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "I meant about being busy." posted at 9:06 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Yes, I know what you were referring to." posted at 9:07 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Oh, okay. My bad. No wait, you're probably just trying to play it off!" posted at 9:11 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Sure, sure. And you are such a slow typer. One finger? Or two?" posted at 9:11 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Hey, I take offense to that. And it's two, not one." posted at 9:13 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Ooh, your typing has gotten a whole minute faster, should we break out the celebratory feast, or too early?" posted at 9:14 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Hey, you know what? I really like your sense of humor. When it's not directed at me and my faults -.-" posted at 9:16 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Sorry. I just couldn't help myself." posted at 9:16 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "You're not sorry, but I'm fine with that. The good ones always play hard to get at first ;)" posted at 9:19 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Hard to get? I believe there is a difference between that and outright rejection, but some are oblivious to where that line falls." posted at 9:20 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Ooh. Ouch. You wound me. So what are you really doing right now. Jokes aside, I need to document this." posted at 9:23 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "I honestly hope you are joking. I'm watching everyone's favorite consulting detective." posted at 9:24 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Don't you mean the world's only consulting detective? ;)" posted at 9:26 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "What? You watch it too? I never pegged you as the type." posted at 9:27 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Then you have had me pegged wrong this whole time, Snow White." posted at 9:28

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Snow White?!" posted at 9:28 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Hey, it's not my fault that you give researchers in Antarctica a run for their money. Seriously, has your skin seen a single UV ray in your whole life?" posted at 9:31 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Don't push your luck, Shortie." posted at 9:31 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Hey, I'm not short, you and Thor are just freakishly tall." posted at 9:33 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Well where we're from you're not a man until you can wrestle a few abnormally sized sheep." posted at 9:34 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Sheep...? I thought you were gonna say something cool like bears or bulls or even boars. Haha, I can't picture you doing that." posted at 9:36 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "I didn't and I don't. That would be Thor." posted at 9:42 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "Who's a slow typer now?" posted at 9:42 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "I was talking to someone. I'm gonna log off now though." posted at 9:43 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "I see how you are, leave me hanging when it's convenient for you." posted at 9:44 pm

Tony Stark (ROCKS YOUR SOCKS) replied: "But I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay? Then you can show me how you earned your title. As a trickster that is." posted at 9:46 pm

Loki Odinson (is a trickster) replied: "Oh you can count on that Stark. ;)" posted at 9:47 pm {User is now offline}

Tony leaned back from the screen before rolling his shoulder and scrolling up and through their conversation. Maybe it was _he _who had _Loki_ pegged wrong this whole time. The guy was sarcastic, funny, a BBC and likely Syfy fan, and intellectually comparable to himself. Why had he been looking past him this whole time? The guy was awe-some, not to be confused with awesome. It was a whole other level to Tony and few earned that title. Bruce had, but Bruce fell short in the humor department. Sure, he _handled_ his humor well, but he didn' t share it: just mostly gave unamused faces or shook his head, and most of Tony best material went straight over Steve's head. But Steve had put up with him for all these years so he got a free pass.

He'd definitely have to hang out with Loki come tomorrow. Maybe even introduce him to JARVIS if they hit it off completely. But that would entail him making the pale teen put up with his parents, who were always especially embarrassing around new company. His mom tended to provide food poisoning inducing dinners while his dad bragged about this or another achievement. Come to think of it Bruce would be perfect to take home. Maybe his parents were enough to make the guy lose his seemingly endless cool.

Tony went back to Bruce's page, posting pictures he'd taken secretly while Bruce was absorbed in some or other task in school and adding the tagline: Bruce's thinking face.

"You're a troll, you know that, right?" Natasha asked him first thing in the morning when he half asleep, dangerously alternating between rocking too far forward and too far back, about to fall back asleep while standing up. He was definitely not a morning person. What he really wanted to do at seven twenty in the morning was crawl back into bed and stay rooted there, head under his covers until noon.

Of course his mom wouldn't let him. She had her classes today: cooking, yoga, and acting. And for some reason she didn't trust Tony to be alone at home for even a few hours. Sheesh, it one house fire. _One_. Okay, maybe two. Three if you count that time he had broke into his father's lab and tried to finish programming his latest experiment. How was he supposed to know the thing would spontaneously combust?

"And why am I a troll exactly?" he asked. Of course on all the days Tony chose to ride the school bus to school it was late, and the days he woke up after hitting snooze on his alarm several times and running out of the door like the place was on fire, the bus wanted to be early. Today his dad was in a central building somewhere downtown introducing his new invention to his sponsors and investors, and because his mom had the aforementioned classes, he was bus-bound.

Tony could see Clint down the street walking towards the bus stop like he had all the time in the world. Knowing Tony's luck, if that were him, the bus would smoothly pull up out of nowhere and then take off as if he hadn't been plainly running for it.

"Because you just are. Seriously? A half naked selfie on Bruce's page? You're lucky he's so nice."

"I think lenient is the word for it," Tony corrected. "And hey, it's not even that bad. I could have photocopied a picture of my butt, took a picture of it, and then posted it on his page. I think that would have made for a true troll move."

Natasha scrunched up her face in horror at the thought and shook her head. "That's not a pretty mental image."

"So what are you saying?" Tony asked in mock offense. "I don't have a nice butt?"

"I really don't wanna be talking about this right now," Natasha muttered uncomfortably.

"What about Tony's butt?" Clint asked with a laugh.

"Whoa, don't worry. I'm not hitting on your girl. She came onto me first!" Natasha gave him a less than amused look and Clint continued to laugh. Good that no feelings were hurt here. Choosing between getting beat up by Clint or getting beat up by Natasha was like choosing to get his ass kicked to the left or the right; either way it was gonna hurt badly.

"Nothing about his butt," Natasha said. "There's the bus!"

"Finally," Tony complained. "I was beginning to freeze to death out here." when they got on the bus only two seats were empty and Tony took one, and Natasha took the other. Clint slid in next to Tony. "Do my eyes deceive me? Are you two fighting or something?"

"Nothing like that," Natasha laughed. "I just heard about what happened with Steve and wanted to talk to him."

"And how did you find that out?" Tony asked.

"Bucky. He posted on SHIELD that he wished things were better with Steve." she stopped right there. "Don't you know what happened? I mean you are his best friend."

"Of course I know," Tony retorted with genuine ire. "And I'm starting to think otherwise, what with everyone saying Bucky this and Bucky that. I mean what kind of nickname is Bucky anyways? I thought nicknames are supposed to be improvements, not the opposite.

"Alright _Anthony_," Natasha teased.

"Shut up Natalia Romanov."

"Don't you dare call me that!" Natasha yelled and the bus quieted. She knew that he _knew_. Her real name was a secret, she had it changed and all evidence of it hidden when she moved from Russia. Her father was a bad man, though bad wasn't quite the word. Some would call him a monster, others a murderer, the media referred to him as a dictator, the fanatics referred to him as ambitious, taking lives to attain his ultimate goal. Her mom had taken her as far away from that place as she could, their records sealed. That meant Tony had looked her up through special means, read her files like a book. She felt violated, angry, and shocked all at once.

Clint looked confused. "...What?"

"Nothing," the redhead said quickly, daring Tony with her gaze to say otherwise.

"...Yeah, nothing," Tony parroted. He had been screwing up a lot lately. It wasn't like he was intentionally trying to get all his friends to hate him, it just ended up that way. They should have cut him some slack, like Bruce. Bruce always cut him a break, no matter how thoughtless he was being. But no matter what way he sliced it, Tony and he weren't especially close - there was no guarantee he would have his back like Steve or Natasha would. Because despite how they teased each other, she was one of his closest female friends. Heck, he would let her paint his fingernails hot pink and wear it to school if she were even into that kind of thing.

Right about now he was definitely regretting having JARVIS look up all his friends' files. He just couldn't put a lid on his curiosity after finding out that Natasha Romanoff didn't exactly 'exist'. And all her personal information was encrypted. Of course it was no big task for JARVIS, Tony had been hacking into his dad's research notes for years. In which case, he should really learn not to leave his PAD lying around.

After the bus picked up students at the next stop it came to Steve's and Tony suppressed a sigh at the sight of Bucky getting on with him. Tony thought he'd be here a week and then it'd be back off to Texas. So what was he doing on the bus? This day couldn't get any worse.

Steve was promted by Natasha to sit by her, she had been guarding the space beside her like a wolf, and patted it. "Sit here you guys! Bucky, I haven't seen you in months!" Steve looked over hesitantly at Tony but Tony had averted his eyes to the city view from the bus window. Besides, there wouldn't be enough room for the four of them to sit in one seat.

"Thor you idiot," a familiar voice said as more students loaded the bus. "Mingle my butt, this bus is crowded."

"I am sorry brother," Thor apologized and took a seat next to Jane and Darcy. He patted the space beside him, which was practically the aisle. Unless Loki counted having five percent of butt on the seat as actually sitting in it. He looked around for other places but the bus was full, and everyone he could see was already three or four to a seat.

"Could someone please scoot over?" the driver asked impatiently. "Or you're all going to be late." Some people complained that they wanted off the bus if that was true, others hooted at having a legitimate reason for being late, either way, reluctantly, several people had made room.

Tony stood up from his seat and waved his arms. "Sit here! Loki, sit here!" when Loki realized it was Tony he made his way to the back only to awkwardly take a seat near Clint as Tony was near the window. A few awkward silent moments later and they had switched places.

Bruce had the unfortunate luck of being on the last stop, and by now some were so much as five to a seat. Tony had invited him to join their crowded space and he had, practically hanging off the edge while the bus driver complained about budget cuts to a mostly uninterested audience.

"Hey, you look good close up too," Tony said with a grin. "I can get down with this amount of space between us."

"Yes, because I was really dying to know what flavor of toothpaste you use."

Tony blew in Loki's face and he recoiled. "It's spearmint."

"_Thank_ _you_ for that." Loki said sarcastically and Clint laughed, unable to continue to ignore the pair's antics.

After they exited and entered the school Tony chivalrously offered to walk Loki to class. And then Loki proceeded to laugh in his face and tell him that he'd make it just fine by himself, and that he could avoid the evil queen and the huntsman - a stab at the earlier joke Tony had made when he had called him Snow White.

And then Tony was off to math.

Math. The real reason he had asked to walk Loki to class, joking aside. He hated math mostly because he sucked at it as badly as he did English. It was a paradox, really.

In his head he was good at it, understood it while the teacher was prattling about it and writing it out on the board but the homework and test looked like something devised and derived from Latin. It might have well been a whole other language. And yet he was good at computers, science, and programming, and wanted to take physics once he was a sophomore or junior if he was up to it. He even thought about going into engineering - well, maybe. But what engineer was bad at math?

"Okay class, hand in your homework assignments please," the teacher started cheerily. Tony could tell that this class was 'normal', none of the advanced teachers bothered pretending to be that happy or excited over passing forward an assignment, not that he was in any advanced classes, but he had snuck into enough of Bruce' s classes to know first hand.

And speaking of assignments..."Shit," Tony cursed, banging his head on the faux wood desk. He bad done his science write-up, even though that wasn't due until tomorrow, but had totally spaced out on his math homework...again.

"No homework Tony?" the teacher asked pleasantly.

"No..." he trailed off.

"Well where's last class' assignment?"

"I forgot it at home," Tony lied. It was sitting on his desk right by his math textbook, untouched and undone since he got it.

"Well next class I hope to see it done with the rest of your assignments. And did you bring your textbook?" when Tony shook his head she plopped a classroom copy down on his desk and took to the front board. "Okay, open your textbooks to page fourty-two and then I'm going to show you guys a little video that'll hopefully help everything stick better."

Tony opened his textbook but as soon as he laid eyes on all the geometric shapes and values he mentally checked out. Steve had been in this class with him the first week but it had been too easy for him and he had been switched out to a higher math class. That was a serious blow to Tony's pride. Even Steve was better at math than he was. While in science they were on the same level, in math Bruce far surpassed him; the guy was the only freshman in pre-calculus. Thor was sitting in the back, but Tony tried not to think about that. Tried to forget that his and Thor's math skills were at the same level.

And, really. Tony was surprised the guy managed to tie his own shoelaces, let alone add two integers together. Then again, he noticed Thor had no shoelaces; he was wearing velcro sandals. When Thor noticed Tony staring he waved and Tony awkwardly returned the gesture before slowly sliding back around in his seat.

Thanos, the purple haired teen next to him was snoring loudly. He had his lip pierced, his eyebrow pierced, and multiple ear piercings. Tony kicked him.

"What the fuck man," he started awake.

"I'm trying to learn, and you're snoring too loudly." Tony said bluntly. Thanos didn't even react, just fell back asleep on top of his notebook. Continuing to drool and snore. Tony pushed the guy's desk over towards the girl who was sitting on the other side of him and it slid with all the pleasantry of the sound of nails on a chalkboard. He was her problem now. The girl frowned at him.

"So can anyone tell me what X equals?" Tony hadn't even been paying attention to the question, let alone know the answer. He averted his eyes from the teacher, making no sudden movements. "Anyone?" apparently everyone else had a similar strategy.

Tony just wanted the class to hurry up and be over. The woman's cheer could only do so much in room full of so much dread. Thankfully as she was passing out the homework assignment due next class the bell was seconds away from ringing. Tony groaned after he flipped the paper over and gave it a thorough once-over. It was thirty questions, fifteen on the front, and fifteen on the back. There was no way he was getting this, and the other math worksheets, done. He shoved it in his backpack nonchalantly and lined up at the door. The bell rang and he was one of the first ones out.

He had PE next. Freshman PE. With Clint, Natasha, Darcy, Bucky, Jane, Sif, and Steve. In comparison to math it was his favorite class.

Tony went down into the dressing room and changed openly in front of his locker like most of the other guys were doing. A few more modest guys fled to the bathroom stalls to change into their gym shorts and shirt. Steve was right next to him and Tony had to stare at his best friend's body. He was so skinny it was ridiculous, and Tony really just wanted to feed him every fattening food in existence. He looked thin enough with clothes on, but positively emaciated without them.

"You're taking weights this semester, right?" Tony asked, looking at him without hiding the way his eyes traveled over his every feature. They had known each other since the third grade, so Steve didn't feel uncomfortable with him doing so.

"Yeah. Both semesters actually. I definitely need to gain some sort of muscle mass," he chuckled. Tony laughed. Yes, definitely was the word for it. Though it would take a whole lot of muscle to make up for so much scrawny.

"Well don't overdo it kid." Tony laughed and Steve rolled his eyes.

"You okay-" Tony had started to ask.

"I'll be fine. It's something I have to deal with." Steve said while pulling on his shirt.

"Okay." Tony left it at that. Steve was always stronger than the guy looked.

"Okay, we're doing circuits today! Get into groups of four to five - no more than six - and pick a station! We'll be rotating every three minutes." Ms. Hill yelled as if she were coaching a team. Great, her again. The school was in serious need of new teachers - this recycling thing was getting old, especially when Tony had to see his least favorite people in more than one class.

Tony being Tony ran to the break station. He would start there and end there. Steve joined him, as well as Sif and Clint. He blinked. "You're not gonna go group with girl power over there?" Tony asked Sif, gesturing towards Jane, Natasha, Darcy, Bucky, Pepper, and Peggy. They were an odd group to be sure. Pepper's shirt was tied in some magical way in the back that made her chest stand out and her waist appear even thinner, Natasha's shirt and shorts hung loosely, Peggy's shirt was tight around the chest area but loose around the waist - her shorts a little bit past her knees, Darcy didn't stand out too much but was wearing a scarf, and Bucky...well, he was the only male on an island of women.

The lucky bastard.

Sif snorted and Tony had to refrain from stepping back. As pretty as she was, she was like a female Thor, and he was sure - no, positive - she could beat his ass as badly, or possibly worse, than even Natasha could. The pony-tailed girl laughed, "Surely you jest. I want to go one on one with her in the ring, not play merry. She is overstepping her boundaries." she said, referring to Jane.

"And I'm guessing those boundaries are Thor? Hey," Tony put up his hands defensively, "don't turn that scary look on me. And what do you mean by 'in the ring'?" was she gonna beat the poor girl up?

"I mean _in_ the ring," Sif emphasized. "I'm an MMA fighter. Not pro yet of course though," she laughed. Yep, she would definitely kick his ass, Tony surmised; it would be in his best interests to stay on her good side. "I just do not understand where she gets off, flirting so openly with Thor. Where I am from such things call for battle."

"And I'm guessing you're from wherever Thor is from, right?" Now that you mention it she was tall... Clint was just laughing and even Steve had a grin on his face. Tony was beginning to wonder if they were all from Valhalla or something, and if he and everyone else were just a mere human mortals in their presence.

After their three minutes of break they rotated to the jumping jacks station. Tony could do them, of course, but his arm movements didn't exactly correspond with his leg movements: as in his arms would come together when they should have been moving apart, or vice versa with his legs. He blamed his utter lack of coördination on his dad, who focused on teaching Tony how to type before how to crawl or walk.

But hey, at least his fingers were dexterous, right?

Sif was pumping out jumping jacks without so much as a sweat, Clint was starting to sweat, what with him wearing a hoodie over his PE shirt, and Steve was doing them methodically, his body looking for all the world to see as if it were struggling to keep up with his moves.

The whistle blew and they switched to push ups, and holy crap was Tony feeling the burn in his arms. Only one minute had passed and he felt like cheating by doing them on his knees. Unsurprisingly Clint (while still sweating with said hoodie on) and Sif were doing them as if they were nothing. Steve did one and was out for the count. Tony knew that if he could physically have done more, he would have.

The next station was jump rope and Clint showed off by doing them inhumanly fast while Sif went at a steady pace, shifting between one-legged and two-legged jump roping. Tony slowed his pace considerably. "So why didn't you get in the group with Bucky?" Tony tried to keep his tone neutral, and he almost succeeded. Though almost being the key word for it.

"Just because of this," Steve said with a raise of a brow. "Your tendency towards jealousy. And it was full."

"I am _not_ a jealous person," Tony denied.

"Your actions say otherwise," he smirked.

"Touché Rodgers, touché."

Clint slowed his jump rope to a halt, swinging it back on its final turn so it wouldn't smack him painfully in the face. "I have a question as well. Why he hell is Natasha so mad at you?"

"Huh?" Tony asked.

"She unfriended you on SN." Already? When did she get the chance to do that. "She probably did it on the app. Or in class. She did have Intro to Web Design first period." Clint answered, practically reading his mind.

"Uh, JARVIS," Tony muttered, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to give out the complete truth.

"What about Jarvis? Who's that?" Clint asked. Sif listened quietly, skipping her rope at a slower pace.

"Tony, you _didn't _." Steve said with a frown. He had nearly forgotten he was right there. And he knew what he meant about JARVIS.

"Hey, you guys, say something. I'm not in-the-know here."

"Can't." Tony shook his head. "Natasha's already pissed that I know, I can't go and tell you what I know, because I shouldn't know."

"I believe this to be an instance of sworn secrecy," Sif piped up.

"Exactly," Tony agreed. Steve just sighed. Clint grew quiet.

'Damn.' Tony thought. Even more problems. Maybe he should just go make merry with his enemies. Like Frandral for example. So every time he screwed something up there would be no chaos, worry, or problems. Wait a second... Make merry with Frandral! What was he even thinking?

"Oof!" Tony had thought that his stint in hell was over but it hadn't been. After circuits Ms. Hill gave them a choice of running laps outside around the track or playing basketball. It was cold outside so he had opted for the latter and had ended up with his ragtag team going against Natasha's. Clint's strength was in his arms, and he seemed to be trying to throw the ball the same way he shot an arrow, which wasn't working out too well. Sif kept overshooting, unable to tone down her own strength, Tony still had coordination issues, and Steve looked lost. There was no way they would win, not even with a miracle.

And Natasha seemed to be aiming the ball at his head, not the basket.

"I give," Tony whined after another 'accidental' meeting of his face and a basketball that was worn and only three fourths of the way inflated. "I'm gonna go run laps, not even Pepper topless would be worth this." Steve followed, and Clint did too after a moment's hesitation. Sif would have attempted a six on one match but she knew she couldn't play nice with Jane on the other side of the ropes and decided to save herself the detention by following.

They ended up walking in a group, others running circles around them. Tony didn't care. His face stung. "You're too nice Steve," he said. "Worrying about others when you have things going on yourself."

Steve laughed. "Maybe I'll rub off on you."

"I hope not," Tony pouted. "I don't think the universe is righteous enough for _two_ Rodgers." Steve rolled his eyes.

Clint looked like he wanted to ask something but his mouth kept closing at the last second. "So is this it?" he finally asked.

"Is what it?" Tony replied, thinking mostly of lunch. He was hungry already.

"Is this the way it's gonna be from now on? I mean all separate and stuff. Natasha hanging out with them, you in your own little world."

"It's not my own little world if everyone joins me on it," Tony huffed. "And besides, I didn't do anything too bad."

"Tony-" Steve started.

"I mean I've known you two since our lowly days of middle school. You would think two years of friendship would count for something more than a swift basketball to the face and then being shown the door." Tony interrupted.

"Well I don't want to feel like I have to choose sides," Clint said, biting his lip with a guilty expression. "Because I know that *you* know where my loyalties lie." So that was it, huh? Clint was gonna give him the cold shoulder until he made pretty with Natasha again, and all was swell in Manhattan.

"Well, you're gonna do whatever you want," Tony said nonchalantly, "nothing I can say to stop you or change your mind. So go ahead." he wasn't going to waste his breath on a moot point. Clint had Natasha's back in a take-a-bullet for you kind of way. Just like Steve did for him. Asking him to stick by his side when he was supposedly in the wrong was selfish. And while Tony didn't deny that he was, he wasn't up to the backlash.

When Clint turned away and walked back inside Tony turned to Sif. "So new best friend, we should hang out more often." he had originally meant it as a joke, but this might just work.

Steve sighed. "It's gonna be a long week..."

Tony was actually looking forward to indefinite detention.

Yes. _Indefinite_ detention. That thing that didn't exist, that _actually_ existed.

It had all started the first week of school. In autoshop Tony and Frandral had gotten into a fight, and maybe a few tools were involved, but really, wasn't the teacher blowing everything out of proportion?

Anyways they had both gotten kicked out of the class and told to fill their schedule elsewhere. Except all other classes were full, and with the nature of the reason they got kicked out in the first place - for fighting - teachers felt less inclined to go out of their way for either of them. So they were sent to the front office for the period.

But what with all the transfers and general busyness, the two women at the front desk had redirected them to the counciling office. But with everyone switching around and out of classes, and seniors signing up for credit retrieval, scholarships, and SATs, there was no room there for them there either. So they were sent down to the athletics office, but apparently the side room of that office was used as a second nurse's office for students who had to take regular doses of medication, and the clerk wasn't always there to keep an eye on them, so, yes, they were sent elsewhere.

*Again*. This time to the library. But the library was booked full for classes. So the librarian sent them to the cafeteria, but a teacher walking to the staff room took them, despite their protests, back to the front office. And then who would walk in but the curator of suffering - the detention and in school suspension coördinator. And as luck (bad luck, that is) would have it, there were always free seats in the in school suspension and detention room.

Tony and Frandral had named it indefinite detention. Because they were stuck in detention, indefinitely, until the end of the semester.

"I hate you," Tony said, sliding into the desk next to Frandral. The desks were faced against the wall with blue partitions on either side so all they could see was the space in front of them. The wall.

"My day is going fine, thanks for asking," Frandral sarcastically replied from the other side of the partition.

"Will you two shut up? I happen to have a migraine." Another voice piped up.

"Oh, well so_rry_," Tony apologized insincerely. "Wait, Loki? What are you doing here?" as far as Tony was concerned, detention was for the schools most hardened, or most troublesome. And Loki seemed as good as Steve on that stance.

"Got caught...it was such a grand plight though." Loki said in a reverie.

"Plight?" Tony paused. "As in a prank?"

"Those two don't mean the same, but yes." Loki said.

"Don't know why this is a big deal. Loki does this. A lot." Frandral added. He had known him as long as he had known Thor because for some reason the towering blond had it in his head that everyone would appreciate his awkward younger brother as much as he did. And he forced the guy on him. But they weren't compatible. Frandral liked two things, and two things only. Women and crude humor.

"Shut up Frandral. So what's the situation?" Tony asked.

"Don't know yet," Loki answered with a chuckle. "I assume they are calling home, and then from there it is what it is."

"Wow, you're all cool about this. But what are you in for?"

"Let's just say I _re_adjusted all the backs of the chairs in the staff room, paint balloons were included."

Tony laughed. As soon as he was released from his wall-staring jail cell he'd see the outcome. "You still gonna be there for stage craft?"

"Yes. They told me I could go after this. Can't keep me from all my classes after all."

Somehow Loki's smugness was rubbing off and he felt smug for a prank he didn't even pull. He couldn't wait to tell Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor...wait, he wasn't talking to Natasha or Clint... The realization dampened his mood.

The bell rang and lunch commenced. Frandral took off. "So you wanna hang out with me at lunch, or...? Tony trailed off.

Loki thought about it for a second. Tony was Thor's friend, but he wasn't like Thor, or any of Thor's other friends. And despite how uncaring he acted about the situation, he really did feel lonely. Especially when Thor had his friends over.

"Yeah. Meet me in the library."

"Okay, I'll wait for you. Don't be late." Tony said with a smile. It was better than the strained table company he was otherwise sure to keep.

Instead of pizza or a burrito, Tony opted for the brown bag lunch which included a red apple, apple sauce, a string cheese, and a pre-packaged peanut and grape jelly sandwich.

When Tony spotted Steve he was with Bucky, holding his usual ham sandwich. "If you ever hope to build up I think you're gonna need a sandwich with less lettuce," Tony said with a laugh. Because really, the school's ham sandwich was three layers lettuce, one layer ham. Bucky laughed and agreed and Steve told them both to mind their own businesses.

"So where are you headed?" Bucky asked. He was taking advantage of Tony's good mood. Maybe if they stopped competing for an imaginary position then they could end up good friends.

"Mind your own, James," Tony said, mimicking Steve. "Just headed to the library though." Bucky had rolled his eyes at the use of his given name.

"Really? Tony Stark and the library. Who'da thunk it." Steve laughed. Out of nowhere Tony hugged him, his arms easily going around his waist.

"I'm so glad you're my friend," he whispered in his ear sentimentally. "And I know you're going through a hard time. You're definitely better than most, smiling right now." Steve's face had gone cherry red and his eyes welled up with tears. For Tony to say that meant a lot.

Tony was never one for talking about feelings, sentiments, or dwelling on emotions. Sometimes he just threw those things by the wayside. Possibly losing two good friends that he hadn't shown enough appreciation for - and not fought to keep to boot, had just given up and taken it lying down, made him realize that if he lost anymore - if Steve suddenly stopped liking him - that he wouldn't be able to simply take it with a grain of salt.

Because what if Steve just moved on and forgot about him? He still had the rest of the gang, and Bucky, so where would that leave Tony?

Probably as a human dummy for Sif to practice her MMA on and unload all her jealousies. She didn't dislike him. And Darcy, who was more Jane's friend than anyone else, she didn't hate him. So he'd be reduced to being friends with only girls. Well, and Bruce. The friend zone would never suck more than then if that happened... Not to mention he had yet to make Bruce laugh with a single joke he had told. Maybe he needed more science-y material. Oh yeah. And Thor. He had nearly forgotten about the handsome usually-grinning behemoth. He'd still have Thor. Whatever that counted for. Free tickets to the school's football games?

"I'm glad too," Steve returned. "My mom's baking an apple pie today. If you come by-"

"Now you're speaking my language," Tony winked. "Can't wait."

By the time Tony got to the library it was full with it's regulars, Bruce in the corner with a biology textbook being a new addition.

"Tony." he turned around to see Loki, with a small shoulder bag. As bad of a decision as Tony's own one-strap shoulder backpack. Except Tony's strap had a design that allowed the strap to come apart, held together with velcro. So if Tony's backpack were ever too heavy...

"Loki." Tony returned. "Hey, follow me." it was a little early for the two of them to be playing follow the leader, because such things usually took trust. But Loki followed and Tony led him to a seemingly abandoned door, through a stairwell, and past a few more doors to come to a metal door.

Tony pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

Loki's face was hit with the cool gust of wind as he stepped out onto the rooftop area he didn't know existed. Tony closed the door carefully to minimize the squeaking of bolts that were in dire need of oiling.

"How did you get the key," Loki asked.

"Ah, ah, ah. A magician never reveals his secrets." Loki raised a brow and Tony laughed. "Okay, for you. I nabbed the janitor's master key and had a copy made. Got it back before he even noticed it was missing."

"You have a master key?"

"Yes," Tony smirked. "I know what you're thinking and keep thinking it. We're gonna have a whole lot of fun with this little bad boy," Tony threw the key up and caught it before putting it back in his pocket.

"We'll be great friends yet," Loki said with a grin. He looked over the edge and took a step back, a sudden fear of heights that he didn't even have kicking in.

"The view's great, right?" Tony asked, sitting next to him. It was really more of a rhetorical question though.

"It is," Loki agreed, breathing in the fresh autumn air.

"Hey, give me your phone number." Tony said.

It was now that he was thankful that his parents had forced the thing on him. He had told them he had no use for one, what with him not having any friends and all. It was an older model though, a flip phone with a simple back camera.

When Tony pulled his own phone out to put his number in his phone, the thing was all screen - thin, fancy, sleek, with a screen protector, case and a forward as well as back camera. It looked like a monumental waste of money, was what it looked like.

Lunch was about to end but they had their last class of the day together, stage craft. Loki clasped the phone tightly in his hand before slipping it back into his pants' pocket. He was really making a friend - and it was Tony - and he was cool. So very cool. He didn't judge him with finality. Didn't treat him like a pariah. He got his sarcasm and even added in his own.

They both walked to stage craft, it was in the arts building upstairs. Loki loved the arts building. There was a theater with hundreds of seats, grand red curtains with golden tassles and a stage that practically called his name.

Tony liked the arts building as well. The water from the fountains was actually cold and they were well maintained, not to mention that the bathrooms were spic and span, the theater was a huge and grand affair, the carpet was lavender dotted with teal, short and stiff but clean, and the benches were shiny. The whole place just screamed new, and it was a place he didn't mind being.

The class met in the workshop behind the stage and it smelled like paint, sawdust, and permanent marker.

"There's a play coming up," their teacher started, "and we're going to do a few things here and there. I need a small group - who isn't afraid of heights - to come up with me to the catwalk to adjust the spotlights. Then I need a group to move the wood we're going to use to design the set into the workshop and pile it according to size. Everyone else will be painting or cutting out the wood with the automatic saw - remember to wear your eyeglasses, focus, and most important, watch your fingers."

Tony and Loki ended up partnering together and bringing the wood ranging in size from mere planks to full on slats into the workshop. The catwalk job had many students eagerly waving their hands for it and Tony was wearing Armani today, so painting was out of the question. Besides, they seemed to be having fun.

"So how are you liking this class?" Tony asked as he hefted the left side of the plank up while Loki guided him from the front.

"I love it," Loki admitted truthfully, grinning. The class was fun, and would do until next year when he became a sophomore and could take theater. "You?"

"Well, I was always a hands-on kind of guy," Tony started, "and after getting kicked out of auto shop this class is looking better and better," he laughed.

"I sense a story behind that," Loki said with a smirk.

"Yes, there is." Tony looked at the clock hanging above the tool rack. "But class is gonna end soon."

"Awh, too bad. And here I was, actually curious."

"Fear not," Tony unsheathed an invisible sword. "For I can text, call or SHIELD it to you."

"You're my hero!" Loki mocked, his hands clasped together and his voice rising a few octaves in mimicry of a stereotypical princess.

"Okay." Tony said seriously and Loki broke his pose. "We are _really_ gonna get along."

Loki smiled.

As promised, Mrs. Rodgers had a warm pie ready when Tony walked through the door. She cut him a large slice and topped the apple cinnamon pie with vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream from a canister. Tony practically inhaled his slice and waited for Steve to eat half of his own before offering him the rest.

They went to the living room to watch TV. Or more Steve put the TV on cartoons while he watched it and Tony sprawled on the couch with his head in his lap, preparing to take a nap after his slice and a half of heaven.

That lasted for all of ten minutes. Steve's mom came in and asked of it would be too much trouble to change the channel. They both agreed and she put it on the news channel, scanning the captions scrolling across the bottom of the screen and clurtching her cell phone with her cordless home phone beside her.

The mood in the room had shifted and Steve inclined his head towards his room and Tony nodded.

"Hey, listen, I know your mom needs you right now," Tony whispered after Steve closed the door though she couldn't have heard him if he was talking normally from down the hall, "you can always stay with me. You know my mom loves you and my dad says you're his son from another mother."

Steve laughed. Tony's parents were like a loving comedy act. And maybe that's what he needed to take his mind off of the harsh realities of his own situation.

Tony looked at the dusty PC in the corner of the room on a bare desk and sighed. "When you gonna get on SHIELD Network?" he asked. "You're never on."

"Sorry." Steve offered halfheartedly. "It's just not really my thing."

"So if I write you a letter, put a stamp on it, and mail it to your house will you reply back?" Tony asked with a laugh.

"Sure," Steve laughed.

"Okay then. I'll have to remind myself to drop by the post office later then."

"You can't be serious..." Steve trailed off.

"Try me."

Steve rolled his eyes and went to turn on the fourty-two inch LCD screen HDTV that Tony had forced on him for Christmas last year. He'd be lying if he said it wasn't nice, it was 3D compatible and had a touch screen remote with a bunch of other features, but when he had given Tony a card and an old comic that Tony had been ogling that he no longer read, he hardly thought the exchange was equal. Tony said otherwise.

Steve laid back on his bed and after he did Tony positioned himself on him, his head on his stomach while Steve unconsciously ran his fingers through Tony's hair. If Tony were a cat he knew would have been purring. Not that he was too fond of cats, or dogs for that matter. He'd stick to tropical fish. Easy to take care of and didn't make a mess that he would have to clean up.

Steve's text notification went off and Tony laughed. Steve pinched him.

"Ow!" Tony rubbed his arm. "Did you know you're secretly vicious? Because those pinching fingers of yours should be registered weapons of mass destruction.

Steve laughed. "Well stop making fun of my ringtone, then." it was the national anthem played by a xylophone. He had originally chosen it as a dedication of good will and good luck to his father, but Tony used it to fuel his theory that he was an all-American good boy who could do no wrong. He wasn't that much of a goody two-shoes. ...Was he?

"Next time I'll choose my words more carefully. You know I have verbal vomiting of the mouth issues."

Steve cringed at his choice of words. "Yes, I believe it would be best if you thought about what you're going to say *before* you actually say it." He opened the text.

From: Bucky

[Hey, can I cum over?]

"Hey, can Bucky come over?" Steve asked instead of replying. He didn't want Tony to feel put out, and Bucky didn't like it when Tony was all over him, no matter how many times he had tried to explain that it was merely a close, *friendly* position.

"No he can't come over!" Tony whined, possessively throwing a leg over Steve. Then he grabbed Steve cell phone to tell the guy - that no, he _wasn't_ welcome to come over today.

And then his eyes caught sight of one word that stood out above the rest in Tony's teenage hormone driven mind. Cum.

"He wants to make you _cum_ Stevey."

Steve blinked. "Come over?" he asked.

"No, cum. C-U-M," Tony spelled out.

"...What?"

"Oh come on Steve," Tony internally chuckled at the use of the word come, now that he was thinking of its whole other meaning, "didn't you ever take sex ed? Or did your mom opt you out of it."

Steve flushed. "His mom _had_ opted him out of it - all of it - despite various teachers' attempts at reassuring her that nothing obscene would be shown, and that the boys would be in a separate room from the girls. For all he knew, babies still came from storks and cabbage patches. And if Tony weren't his best friend he'd probably stay just as none-the-wiser. Of course, Tony _was_ his best friend.

Tony sat up and put his legs on either side of Steve, moving back and forth, causing the bed to follow with a barely audible creak.

Still nothing; Steve still wore an expression of confusion.

Then Tony got an idea, opened his mouth in an O-shape and mimicked the sounds he remembered a girl making from one of his dad's secret stash of porn DVDs. Of course it wasn't so secret anymore now that Tony knew about it. There was a long pause, and then Steve's eyes went wide in realization and his face turned so red, so fast, that Tony had to stifle a laugh.

"What! Why would tell me something like that? _Tony_!" Steve protested, pushing him off.

Tony laughed. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger, I'm not the one who wants to make you _cum_."

"_Tony_!"

"But I do want you to _come_ sit by me tomorrow on the bus and _come_ with me to-" Tony was interrupted by Steve hurling his pillow at him. "Ow," Tony protested even though it didn't really hurt. "Sheesh, if you didn't wanna _come_ along, you should have just said so."

"Tony...!" Steve frowned, but it didn't work because a smile was creeping it's way onto his face.

"Oh yeah, but really though. Bucky can _come_ over.

Steve hit him hard with the pillow this time.

When Bucky finally arrived Tony had long since learned his lesson - well, almost - and was laying out on the bed with his legs thrown over Steve. Not because the position was especially comfortable but just as a 'I can do this, and you can't' sort of thing. It was purely territorial. He dared the guy to try something, not that he thought he would. Because Bucky was brought up just as old-fashioned as Steve, and they believed in the 'proper order' of things.

"You know if people seen you two like this, they'd talk."

"Well then let 'em talk," Tony said, mocking Bucky's southern drawl.

Bucky scowled, instantly picking up on the fact that the younger boy was making fun of him. "Don't test me," he started.

"You know, I actually like testing things. Theories, programs, ideas - you know, those sorts of things."

"Tony..." Steve warned quietly.

"And last I checked you're not his boss. So what, you're two years older, does that somehow mean anything?" Tony paused but continued when Bucky opened his mouth. "Didn't think so."

Bucky put up both hands in a show of a white flag. "Okay, okay. You can stop acting like a pit bull now, I ain't tryna cross you or nothing like that." he decided to end it because Tony Stark _liked_ fights, and liked arguments. If left up to him it would never end, just continue or escalate. So he had to be the bigger man and back down first.

Though Tony's grin like he had won an olympic gold metal was grating on his nerves.

"Well, party's over, meaning I have to go. Don't get too bored without me," Tony hugged Steve goodbye. "Call me or something, okay?"

Steve nodded. "I will. Be safe." Tony inclined his head and gave a wave to Bucky that was really just the lazy flick of his hand.

[So, about that story?] Loki had texted. Tony scratched his head. Which story again? He told a lot of them because he did a lot of them. And his memory tended to be selective at the worst of times.

(Wait, which one? I'm a busy man, it could be anything.) Tony texted back. He added a winking face for good measure before he sent it.

[About getting kicked out of autoshop. Sheesh, do our conversations bear so little importance?]

(I never said that. Forgive me?)

[There is nothing to forgive ;) just don't let it happen again.]

(Rodger that Snow.)

[Stark...]

(Okay, okay. I was just kidding.)

(Hey, wanna hang out?) Tony sent. He didn't want to go home just yet.

[Now?]

(Now.)

[Alright then. We'll have to be at my house though. My mom doesn't like me out past six.]

(Six? That's so early. Lol.)

[I know.] Loki texted him the directions and Tony hopped on the train in the subway station. It wasn't necessary to do so, it would only cut the travel time by five or so minutes, but Tony hadn't been on it in a while.

He chose the fullest segment because there was always someone weird, or an inescapable foul smell, or *something* wrong with the empty ones. All the resident New Yorkers did the same out of experience, and the number of people thinned out after only a few stops.

Tony got off and met Loki, with Thor behind him, at the corner store.

"Ah, Tony. It is good to see you!" Thor greeted as jovial as ever.

"You too big guy." I only just saw you today. "Hey Loki. He your bodyguard or something?"

Loki laughed. "Yes, actually." he rolled his eyes. "Mom wouldn't let me leave home without him."

Tony laughed and they made their way to his house. Tony took his shoes off at the entrance like he was used to doing in Steve's house and got odd looks from Loki. "What, was I supposed to leave them on?" he asked.

"No," Loki chuckled. "Actually, I think my mom would even appreciate the sentiment. But after any amount of Thor, these carpets don't need cleaning, they need replacing." Tony noticed faded stains this and there that had been obviously scrubbed, as if someone had done all that was possible to remove them, but to no avail.

That was never a problem in Tony's house because the floors were all hardwood, bamboo, or granite. His dad wasn't one for cleaning, and the layout of the house reflected that.

"Oh, so this is him. Hi sweetie," Tony looked up in time to receive a smothering hug from a woman with long braided strawberry blond hair. She had a warm and patient tone that reminded Tony of a hybrid of Steve and Clint's mom.

When she left Tony said, "Wow, I'm meeting the family already. Had I of known I would have worn a tie." Loki laughed and Tony was glad he could joke freely around him. And especially glad he didn't give him the 'Bruce' treatment: in example, not laughing, or staring at him as if he had grown a second head. Things like that just put a lid on his creative genius.

"Whoa!" when Tony stepped foot into Loki's room he had confused the place for paradise.

All along the walls were posters - Star Trek, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Harry Potter, an original Men in Black poster and action figures on a dresser, and a stack of Avengers comic books (their school had been named after them) - laminated and in a protective case. His TV was mounted on the wall, all sixty pristine inches of it, and though Tony's own was similar, he was drooling over the technology. There was a neat stack of games and his systems were just as neatly put away.

Not to mention his bed was badass with a red and gold design of a dragon. "So, uh, when's the wedding set for?" Tony looked around. "This week or next?"

"I'm more of an in-the-now kind of guy myself. How about today?"

"Now you're speaking my language."

They ended up with Loki showing off his comics while Tony leaned on his shoulder and read from behind him, music blaring in the background.

Not not only did they have the same tastes, they had the same favorite songs. Tony laughed when Loki logged on to SHIELD Network and poked fun of Thor on some his posts, using advanced language that went over the guy's head.

Tony took a picture of them with his arm around Loki. And posted it with the tagline: New best friend.

Loki took his phone from him, because his camera had a better resolution, and said, "now act like we're kissing."

They both made comical kissy faces and posted it on both their pages. Tony added the tagline: Just married ;). And they both started laughing uncontrollably as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Then Loki went to get his digital camera and took a picture of Tony while Tony was taking a picture of him and they posted it.

They ate store bought brownies with hot chocolate and put on the first episode of Psych. It was then that Tony leaned on his phone and had ended up turning the volume up, it had been on silent, and realized his dad was calling him.

He waited until it went to voicemail and slid his finger across the screen to unlock the phone and realize that he had a ton of unanswered texts and calls, one from Clint, the majority from his mom, and the last few from his dad.

Shit. He knew, just _knew_, he had forgot something. Genius as he was, all this time he had been out it had slipped his mind to call and tell his mom he would be late. He knew that it was just his mom who was probably overreacting, because his dad was pretty lax on those kinds of things. But she was giving him an earful no doubt, and he was obliged to do whatever she asked to make her stop.

"Uh, I gotta go?"

"You in trouble?" Loki asked knowingly after seeing the way Tony looked at his phone.

"Yeah," Tony scratched the back of his neck. "Apparently I neglected to tell my parents I was gonna be home late." he grabbed his backpack and slipped back into his shoes, before being seen out by Loki, and waving goodbye to Thor who was watching a wrestling special.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow," Loki reciprocated with a small smile.

(I'm on my way home.) Tony texted his dad.

[Good, but if your mom is going react like I know she is, you're in trouble buddy.]

(I know...) Tony texted back. Why couldn't his mom be his friend too?

Tony mostly tuned out the lecture - it wasn't the first time he'd had this talk after all - and then trudged up to his room. He wished he had been paying some sort of attention. Was he grounded?

"Hey, JARV," Tony started, grabbing his laptop.

'Yes sir?' JARVIS asked.

"Am I grounded?"

'Most certainly, sir.'

"What!"

"And don't you dare try and go anywhere else this week Anthony, considered yourself grounded!" JARVIS played back the audio.

"Damn..." Tony started up his laptop and logged onto his SHIELD to see a string of notifications, one of which confirming that Natasha did indeed unfriend him, and not only that, but she haf blocked him.

[Your friend: Natasha Romanoff has: unfriended you.]

[Natasha Romanoff has: blocked you.]

Tony stared at the notifications.

Huh.

Well that settled that. If she wanted to cut off all ties because Tony exercised a little curiosity then that was her prerogative. There was no use Tony trying to act like it was some great loss. He shrugged, though no one could see it. Maybe he'd lost a friend but he had made another. That counted for something, and that he was sure of.

Tony scrolled through and was surprised to see Clint hadn't given him the same treatment as Natasha. He was still on his friends list and all.

Tony laughed when he looked at his page and saw that Steve had commented his picture that said 'new best friend'.

[Your friend: Steve Rodgers, has commented: "What! I've been replaced?"] Tony laughed and replied that, no, there was enough Stark to go around.

Bruce had commented "And here I was, thinking we were science bros..." and Tony realized that, yes, he had a sense of humor after all. Thor also left a comment, happy about it. He had a brother complex after all. And with Thor came...Jane and Sif of course. Though Tony opinion of Sif as Thor's groupie was slowly starting to shift.

To Jane though he replied that if she ever came over and he was over hanging with Loki that they could all hang out together since she was so 'happy about it as well'. She replied back with a simple smiley face, and Tony could tell she probably wasn't smiling on the other side of the screen. Thor said that was a good idea and she didn't reply.

Tony had a laugh about it.

The next day in English Pepper was wearing a shirt with a lace back, her bra in plain view. When he turned just at the right angle he *just* could see-

"Tony, would you care to answer?"

"Huh-what?" he said as one word.

"I said: would you care to answer?" after a long pause and a confused look from Tony, the teacher added, "The question on the board, Tony." Great, now people were snickering at him.

Tony looked up at the board. "What is the main theme of the reading?" he muttered aloud. Uh. They were reading something?

"The reading from your textbook that I assigned for homework." the teacher added impatiently.

"The uhm," so many people were whispering about him that Tony couldn't make out what Steve was whispering to him as the answer.

"Who is the main character, Tony?"

"The main character is...uh."

"Uh? If you haven't been paying attention this whole time I don't think I'm the right teacher for you for this class."

'Odysseus,' Steve scrawled out onto the paper.

"Odysseus!"

"And what is the main theme of the story?"

'The hero's journey," Steve wrote.

"The hero's journal!" Steve looked like he wanted to smack his own face in exasperation. Tony looked at the paper again. "I mean journey."

There was a pause and the teacher shook her head. "Well, thank you for showing me that Steve knows what we're doing, but next class I expect *you* to show me."

Damn. That meant he was gonna get called on often. Or called home. Again. And there were only so many calls and voicemails JARVIS could derail. If they ever called his dad's work phone, which was encrypted by the way, there would be no way for JARVIS to erase the call. With luck on his side, his parents were none-the-wiser where his failing and nearly-failing grades were concerned. He was just hoping that luck didn't run out anytime soon.

Luckily he had an early lunch period today.

Tony got in line for pizza and saw Loki near the back of the line, who he waved over to stand in front of him.

"Thanks Tony." he smiled.

"No problem Loki." when he was up to get his pizza he noticed they were also selling jumbo mint chocolate cupcakes. He bought twelve of them and the lunch lady manning the cashier's eyes boggled; she gave him a plastic tray to hold them all. Tony gave one to Loki and he alternated between taking a bite of that and his cheese pizza and they sat at Tony's regular table. Natasha was there and she looked away when she met his eyes.

Tony gave a cupcake to Steve, reluctantly to Bucky, to Frandral, though he wished he were giving him a black licorice flavored one, Sif, Darcy, Bruce, Thor, and Clint. He walked up to Natasha personally.

"Hey."

"...Hey."

"Got you something."

"Did your mom make it? 'Cause if so-"

"Not to worry, I _bought_ it," Tony said gesturing to the pizza area. She took it and took a bite. Then smiled. "Okay. I forgive you."

"That easy?" there were a whole lot theatrics for something that was eventually solved with a frosted treat. And who said the way to a man's heart was through his stomach? Apparently it worked both ways.

"This time. Next time you do something like that I'll kick your ass." Tony considered that a next time wouldn't be very likely then in that case.

And then he realized he forgot a cupcake for himself. "Damn."

Steve offered his, but he had eaten all the cake off of it, and all that remained was the green frosting. Loki had the done the opposite, eating all the frosting and leaving only the chocolate cupcake.

Tony dipped his spork into Loki's cake and then Steve's frosting. "Yum! I think this is the start of many great days to come." he said, putting his arms around the both of them.

Thor clapped him on the back and he coughed, trying not to choke. "I agree my friend!" the blond added in his naturally booming voice.

Bucky sighed, "I really hope so."

Darcy laughed and offered a piece of her cupcake to Jane who had just returned from the restroom, while Sif took a big celebratory bite that ended up with more on her nose than in her mouth. Bruce was eating his neatly with his spork, and Natasha and Clint were still working on theirs.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the long wait, here's an extra-long chapter in apology.


End file.
